During drilling operations, vibrations within a drill string can be related to a number of drilling problems. If there are large vibrations, one or more components in the drill string, the drill bit, drill collar, etc. may be prematurely worn or broken. Moreover, the drilling performance can be decreased. The types of vibrations on a drill string can include longitudinal or axial vibration, torsional vibration, and lateral vibration. While these vibrational modes (including combinations of the vibration types) can be destructive downhole, or can be indicative of conditions that would be desirable to be known by those conducting the drilling operations, they can be very difficult to determine at the surface. Additionally, in order to facilitate corrective action, determining the operational mode of the drill string in as close to real time as possible would be helpful in avoiding the possible detrimental results.